Business Process Modeling Template

Business Process Modeling Template

Strategic Planning & Architecture Wing

Electronic Government Directorate

Version: 1.0

April, 2005

BPM - EGD Ver. 2.0 - 20112005

Business Process Modeling Template

Table of Contents
1 2 3 4 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 3 Purpose...................................................................................................................... 3 What a Business Process is?................................................................................ 3 Business Process Modeling..................................................................................... 3 4.1 Process Design (as is)....................................................................................... 3 4.2 Process Model (proposed) .............................................................................. 4 5 Business Process Modeling Notation.................................................................... 4 6 Standard Template for the Business Process ....................................................... 9 7 Standard Template for the Step ........................................................................... 10

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Business Process Modeling Template

Introduction
An operation is composed of processes designed to add value by transforming inputs into useful outputs. Inputs may be materials, labor, energy, and capital equipment. Outputs may be a physical product (possibly used as an input to another process) or a service. Processes can have a significant impact on the performance of a business, and process improvement can improve organizations competitiveness.

Purpose
This document presents standard guidelines for documenting (as is) business processes. A standard template has also been devised that is based on BPMN 1.0 (developed by BPMI).

What a Business Process is?

A business process is a collection of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer. It implies a strong emphasis on how the work is done within an organization. A business process is thus a specific ordering of work activities across time and place, with a beginning, an end, and clearly defined inputs and outputs.

Business Process Modeling

Modeling the business process is an essential part of any software development process. It allows the analyst to capture the broad outline and procedures that govern what it is a business does. As an early model of business activity, it allows the analyst to capture the significant events, inputs, resources and outputs associated with business process. In addition to that, it also allows the analyst to clearly map what is in the scope of the proposed system and what will be implemented in other ways (e.g. manual processes).

4.1 Process Design (as is)

The first stage in business process modeling is the design of the business process. In this stage business process owners use their process knowledge to define the as is business process. This may involve activities such as: Define the process boundaries that mark the entry points of the process inputs and the exit points of the process outputs.

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Business Process Modeling Template

Graphically create a process map, or an electronic sketch of a process that specifies the tasks that must be performed and the sequence of the tasks in series or in parallel. Specify business rules and special conditions that dictate the flow of the process. Also mark out the exceptions that are inherent in each process. Determine the capacity of each step in the process and identify the bottlenecks (i.e. steps with lowest capacity) Evaluate further limitations in order to quantify the impact of the bottleneck. Identify the resources available to perform various tasks. Outline performance expectations for the time and cost of completing each step and the overall process.

4.2 Process Model (proposed or to-be)

Modeling is the second step and is best performed by business analysts or process improvement specialists. It involves taking a business process design and making a number of assumptions about the time and cost of each task, and the probabilities of various events that may occur during a business process life cycle. These assumptions should be derived from empirical data generated from studying existing business processes, or can be "guesstimates" for new or uncharacterized processes. The following are some typical items that need to be defined when modeling: The time it takes to perform each task expressed as a range. The time an individual or a resource is available to perform a task. The cost of the individual or the resources. The probability of occurrence of certain events. The rate or frequency at which new incidents or cases of the business process are initiated.

Business Process Modeling Notation

The Business Process Modeling Notation (PBMN) is the standard notation used for business process modeling. The primary objective of developing BPMN is to provide a notation that is readily understandable by all business users, from the analysts that create the initial drafts of the processes, to the technical developers responsible for implementing the technology that will perform those processes, and finally, to the business people who will manage and monitor those processes.

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Business Process Modeling Template

BPMN defines a Business Process Diagram (BPD), which is based on a flowcharting technique tailored for creating graphical models of business operations. A Business Process Model is, therefore, a network of graphical objects, which are activities (i.e. work) and the flow controls that define their order of performance. A BPD consists of four basic graphical elements as described below: Flow Objects Flow objects are the main graphical elements to define the behavior of a Business Process. There are three Flow Objects: o Events o Activities o Gateways Connecting Objects There are three ways of connecting the Flow Objects to each other or other information. These Connecting Objects are: o Sequence Flow o Message Flow o Association Swimlanes There are two ways of grouping the primary modeling elements through Swimlanes: which are: o Pools o Lanes Artifacts Artifacts are used to provide additional information about the Process. There are four standardized Artifacts, but modelers or modeling tools are free to add as many Artifacts as required. The current set of Artifacts includes: o Data Object o Group o Annotation

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Business Process Modeling Template

Following table displays a list of the core modeling elements that are depicted by the notation: Element
Event

Description
An event is something that happens during the course of a business process. These events affect the flow of the process and usually have a cause (trigger) or an impact (result). Events are circles with open centers to allow internal markers to differentiate different triggers or results. There are three types of Events, based on when they affect the flow: Start, Intermediate, and End. An activity is a generic term for work that company performs. An activity can be atomic or nonatomic (compound). The types of activities that are a part of a Process Model are: Process, SubProcess, and Task. Tasks and Sub-Processes are rounded rectangles. Processes are either unbounded or a contained within a Pool. A Gateway is used to control the divergence and convergence of Sequence Flow. Thus, it will determine branching, forking, merging, and joining of paths. Internal Markers will indicate the type of behavior control. A Sequence Flow is used to show the order that activities will be performed in a Process. A Message Flow is used to show the flow of messages between two participants that are prepared to send and receive them. In BPMN, two separate Pools in the Diagram will represent the two participants (e.g., business entities or business roles).

Notation

Activity

Gateway

Sequence Flow

Message Flow

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Business Process Modeling Template

Association

Pool

Lane

Data Object

Group (a box around a group of objects for documentation purposes)

Text Annotation (attached with an Association)

An Association is used to associate information with Flow Objects. Text and graphical nonFlow Objects can be associated with the Flow Objects. A Pool represents a Participant in a Process. It is also acts as a swimlane and a graphical container for partitioning a set of activities from other Pools, usually in the context of B2B situations. A Lane is a sub-partition within a Pool and will extend the entire length of the Pool, either vertically or horizontally. Lanes are used to organize and categorize activities. Data Objects are considered Artifacts because they do not have any direct effect on the Sequence Flow or Message Flow of the Process, but they do provide information about what activities require to be performed and/or what they produce. A grouping of activities that does not affect the Sequence Flow. The grouping can be used for documentation or analysis purposes. Groups can also be used to identify the activities of a distributed transaction that is shown across Pools. Text Annotations are a mechanism for a modeler to provide additional information for the reader of a BPMN Diagram.

Note: For the complete set of BPMN elements please refer to BPMN Specification Ver. 1.0 (released by www.bpmi.org)

BPM - EGD Ver. 2.0 - 20112005

Business Process Modeling Template

Figure 1 below depicts a sample business process developed in BPMN notation.

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Business Process Modeling Template

Standard Template for the Business Process

Business Process ID Business Process Name Author Created On Version Description of Business Process Goal of the Business Process Start Event <BP-nnnnnn> <Name of Business Process> <Name of Author> <dd/mm/yyyy> Date when the document was originally created <This defines the version no.> <A brief description of the business process> <Indicate the ultimate goal of the business process i.e. value-add of the process> <A business process can be started in more than one way. The Trigger for a Start Event is designed to show the general mechanisms that will instantiate that particular Process. A start events may be: None, Message, Timer, Rule, Link, and Multiple.> <Indicates the inputs and its medium required by the process> <Describes the end output of the process > <Describes the complexity level of the business process. The complexity may be Low, Medium or High> <Indicates the total no. of people (resources) who are involved in the execution of the business process at different points of time> <Indicates the average life span of the business process from start to end> <Indicates the total no. of steps the process takes to complete. Details of individual steps are documented separately> <Indicates how frequently the process is executed> <It is the maximum output rate of the process measured in units produced per unit time.> <It is the actual effort time the process takes to complete> <Total time the process takes to complete. >

Inputs Outputs Complexity No. of People Involved Duration of Business Process No. of Steps Frequency Capacity of Business Process Effort Time Cycle Time

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Business Process Modeling Template

Standard Template for the Step

Activity Action Prerequisites Actor(s) Inputs Input Medium Output Output Medium Goal of the Business Process Optional/Mandatory Complexity Duration of Business Process Frequency Flow Time Effective Time Supporting Systems Related Documents Suggestions Recommendations <Name of activity under which this step is performed> <Name of the action for which the step is performed> <Any requirements for this step to execute> <The actor(s)/Entities which executed this step> <Indicates the input and its medium required by the step> <Describes the end output of the step. This output may be an input for a following step> <Indicates the output medium provided by step> <Indicates why this step is taken> <Indicates the nature of step. Either Optional or Mandatory> <Indicates the level of complexity involved in performing this step> <Total duration of business process> <Indicates how frequent this step is performed> <Indicated total time> <indicates actual time required to perform the step> <Indicates any supporting (manual or automated> system involved in performing the steps> <Indicates any related documents for this step>

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